Examiner's Specific Advice

The best answers will focus on the question set, have arguments arranged into structured paragraphs, and use knowledge to support explanations. Above all, they will offer comparative assessments of different factors, from Stalin's own personality and attributes to the national and international circumstances in which he found himself. They will discuss in some detail the relative importance of factors such as the shape of the Communist Party and the other players within it, or the economic conditions prevailing in the USSR at the time - poor harvests and resultant famine. Less effective essays are likely to supply more general comments without relevant supporting details. They will probably consider one or two issues rather than several, and will fail to use their historical knowledge effectively. They may also drift away from the period in question.

Exemplar Question

1. How is Stalin's consolidation of power best explained? [50 marks]

 

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